Origin and popularity of the name WALTER

Origin

Walter : 1: English (of Norman origin) German Dutch Polish Swedish and Danish: from a personal name composed of the ancient Germanic elements wald ‘rule’ + heri hari ‘army’. This personal name was introduced into England both in the reign of Edward the Confessor and by the Normans (in the forms Walt(i)er Waut(i)er). After the Norman Conquest it soon became one of the most popular personal names in Britain. Compare Walther.2: Germanized or Americanized form of Czech Slovak Croatian and Slovenian Valter and Czech Valtr: from the personal name Valter Valtr of ancient Germanic origin (see 1 above).

Auton : 1: English: habitational name from Aveton Giffard in Devon meaning ‘farm by the River Avon’ from the river name Avon + Old English tūn ‘settlement’. The later manorial suffix Giffard is derived from Walter Giffard who held the manor in 1242.2: English: variant of Alton and Oldton (for which see Alton 2).3: Altered form of Auten a surname of Dutch origin.4: In some cases possibly also French: variant of Authon a habitational name from any of several places in France named Authon.

Balchin : perhaps an altered form of Bolsham from Bilsham in Yapton (Sussex) recorded as Bul(e)sham from the 12th century whose name is from an Old English given name or nickname Bȳli (bȳl(e) ‘a boil’) in the genitive case with -es + hamm ‘watermeadow; enclosed place’ or hām ‘large estate farm’. Woolbeding where the earliest example of Balchin occurs is next to Midhurst (Sussex) where James Bolsham is recorded in 1606. The will of a Peter Bolsham of Kirdford (Sussex) was proved in 1614 and a Walter Bulshyne (a scribal mangling of Bulsham?) is recorded in that neighbourhood in 1307. This might explain the naming of Bulchin's Farm in Kirdford as suggested in Place-Names of Sussex. The family name Bulchin in Guildford Surrey and in Kirdford Sussex seems to be an alternative 18th- and 19th-century pronunciation of Balchin. However the Guildford connection also suits the alternative explanation for Balchin given in (ii).perhaps an altered form of Balchild a name that is first recorded in East Worldham (Hants) in 1327 about 16 miles from Guildford (Surrey) where it appears from the 1380s onwards. It is in Guildford and nearby villages where both Balchin and Balchild are found from the late 17th century onwards an overlap which is much better evidenced than Balchin with Bolsham which only occurs in Kirdford. The origin of Balchild is uncertain. It appears to be either a nickname containing Middle English child (Old English cild) ‘child young man knight attendant apprentice’ (see Child) or perhaps a topographical name containing Middle English childe (Old English *cielde) spring but the identity of Bal- is difficult to determine. In relation to the nickname Middle English balgh ‘tubby round-bellied’ is a possibility; compare Fairchild Goodchild and Littlechild.

Batt : 1: English: from the Middle English personal name Bat(te) probably a pet form of Middle English Bartelmew (see Bartholomew) or perhaps the rarer Bartram (see Bertram).2: English: probably in many cases a variant of Back 2 ‘bat’ (the winged animal) applied as a nickname. The alteration of Middle English bakke to bat is not on record before 1580 but the frequency with which le Bat occurs in medieval documents suggests that this is a likely source of the name. Alternatively it may be from Middle English bat(te) (Old English batt) ‘cudgel club bat’ perhaps for someone of stout appearance or for one who wielded a bat.3: English: topographic name of uncertain meaning. That it is a topographic name seems clear from examples such as Walter atte Batte (Somerset 1327) but the meaning of the term is in doubt although it is found in medieval field names.4: German: from a medieval personal name (from Latin Beatus ‘blessed’) bestowed in honor of the apostle who was reputed to have brought Christianity to Switzerland and southern Germany.

Belsham : from Belchamp Otton Saint Paul's and Walter (Essex).

Blakeborough : perhaps from a lost place in Salterforth (WR Yorks) referred to as Blakebroc in a charter of 1147–54 with -b(o)rough substituted for -brok ‘brook’.alternatively an altered form of Blackburn with -brok or -b(o)rough substituted for -burn. Redmonds Dictionary of Yorks Surnames records William Blakburne alias Blakebrooke 1600 in York Registry Wills (Waddington WR Yorks) and Walter Blakebrooke Blagbrooke or Blageburn 1600–16 in West Yorks Deeds (Bradford WR Yorks). Compare also Johes. Blakeburne 1541 Jonathan Blackborough 1789 in IGI (Halifax WR Yorks). Blackbrook is now extinct.

Bridgewater : English: habitational name from Bridgwater in Somerset; the water which the bridge at Bridgwater crosses is the Parrett river but the placename actually derives from Brigewaltier i.e. ‘Walter's bridge’ after Walter de Douai the 12th-century owner.

Buck : 1: English: nickname from Middle English buc(ke) ‘male goat’ (Old English bucca) or a ‘male deer’ (Old English bucc). The goat was popularly associated with lecherous behaviour and the deer with timidity and speed. The surname may also be a shortened form of longer occupational names for example Roger le Bucmanger' ‘dealer in bucks or venison’ (Warwickshire 1221) or Walter Bucswayn perhaps ‘goatherd’ (Somerset 1327).2: English: topographic name for someone who lived near a prominent beech tree such as Peter atte Buk (Suffolk 1327) from Middle English buk ‘beech’ (from Old English bōc).3: German and Dutch (Limburg): from a personal name a short form of Burkhard (see Burkhart).4: North German and Danish: nickname for a fat man from Middle Low German būk ‘belly’. Compare Bauch.5: German and Dutch (Limburg): variant of Bock.6: German: variant of Puck in the sense ‘defiant spiteful’ or ‘stubborn’.7: German: topographic name from the field name Buck ‘hill’.8: Germanized form of Sorbian Buk: topographic name from buk ‘beech-tree’.

Buskin : 1: from Buskin in Devon or topographic for someone who lived ‘(by the) bushes’ from the dative plural *busken of Middle English *busk ‘bush’ (borrowed from Old Scandinavian buskr). Some examples may belong under (2). 2: from Middle English bukke-skin skin of a buck used particularly of buckskin breeches used to denote a maker of breeches or for a worker in buckskin or leather. Richard de Gravele called Bokskyn was an apprentice of Walter Polyt fuyster (‘saddletree maker’; see Fewster">Fewster) 1311 in London Letter Books D.

Cantle : apparently a reduced form of Cantello the family name of a medieval lord of one of the manors of Weston on Avon (Gloucs). The names were at any rate interchangeable in the 17th and 18th centuries: Anne Cantle 1674 William Cantelo 1681 in IGI (Wonston Hants); Walter Cantle 1690 Jane Cantel 1747 Patience Cantilo 1770 in IGI (Broughton Gifford Wilts).

Drabble : perhaps from an unattested Middle English personal name *Drabel or *Drabil. It is presumably related to the Old English personal name Drabba which is recorded as the name of a Peterborough festerman in 963–92 (Anglo-Saxon Charters) and which may have survived in the surnames of Robert Drabe 1161 in Pipe Rolls (Lincs) Walter Drabbe merchant 1327 in Subsidy Rolls (Clare Suffolk) and Hillary Drabbe of Saint Ingunger (Lanivet Cornwall) 1433 in TNA. The etymology of Drabba is uncertain but possibly derives from a Germanic root meaning ‘to hew out’; Drabel -il has the Old English diminutive suffix -el.

Ennals : presumably a variant of the now extinct surname Ennall + post-medieval excrescent -s. Parish registers record entries such as Thomasyn Ennell 1604 in IGI (Tedburn Saint Mary Devon) Edmund Ennall 1616 in IGI (Saint Giles Cripplegate London) and Temperance Hennal 1705 in IGI (Belaugh Norfolk). Ennall is likely to be a reduced form of the well used Middle English personal name Ernold (see Arnold) or possibly the rarer Ernulf (Old English Earnwulf Old Scandinavian Arnulfr or of Continental Germanic Arnulf). Compare Walter Ernald 1338–9 in Norwich Freemen (Ranworth Norfolk) Johannes Ernald 1379 in Poll Tax (North Elmham Norfolk) Nicholaus Ernolf 1381 in Poll Tax (Witton Norfolk) and Edward Arnold 1561 in IGI (Saint Giles Cripplegate London). Assimilation of -r- to the following -n- and loss of final -d or -f would be quite normal in later Middle English and naturally result in spellings like Ennal and Ennel. Compare Annal.

Everall : 1: post-medieval variant of Averill. Compare Walter Averell 1607 Nicholas Everell 1652 Jeoffry Everall 1675 in IGI (Beeston Norfolk); Mary Everall 1665 Mary Averell 1682 in IGI (Saint Giles Cripplegate London); Abraham Averell 1716 William Everill 1771 in IGI (Wolverhampton Staffs). 2: perhaps from the rare Middle English female personal name Everil(d) representing either Old English Eoforhild (from eofor ‘boar’ + hild ‘battle’) or an unrecorded Old French form of its Continental Germanic equivalent Eburhild. As a post-Conquest given name it is apparently attested in a minor place-name Hevereldsshaghe 1439 in Place-Names of WR Yorks 3 p. 191 at Everill Shaw in Hebden Bridge. The 1379 WR Yorks surname cited below if derived from the personal name is unlikely to have any link with the post-medieval Shrops and Staffs surnames cited under (1). 3: perhaps a variant of Deverell the initial D- being dropped as though it were a reduced form of the Anglo-Norman French preposition de ‘of from’. However Deverell and its variants are solidly SW England especially Wilts with no presence in Shrops or Staffs where Everall and Everill are concentrated.

Eyston : from Eyston Hall in Belchamp Walter (Essex) or perhaps a variant of Easton which is a very common English place-name.

Gedge : either from Middle English gig(ge) *jig(ge) gegge ‘silly fellow’ or from Middle English *kegge kigge ‘cheerful pleasant agreeable merry’ with voicing of the initial consonant in which case it is a variant of Kedge. The two words may have been confused. The spelling Gegge can represent either of two pronunciations Gedge or Geg.variant of Gage (or vice versa). Compare Willm. Gage 1575 Willm. Gadge 1586 in IGI (Hadleigh Suffolk) with Edmvnt Gedge 1558 in IGI (Hadleigh Suffolk); Andrew Gage 1381 in Poll Tax (Siddington Gloucs) with Thomas Gegg 1623 in IGI (Siddington Gloucs).perhaps a variant of Geake with the final consonant voiced to give Geg(g) but a development to Gedge is more difficult to explain. Compare John and Walter le Gek 1327 in Subsidy Rolls (Bukland Gloucs) and John le Gek 1327 in Subsidy Rolls (Winchester Hants) with the 1327 Gloucs and Hants examples of le Geg cited below.

Gobbett : probably from Middle English go bet ‘leave quickly make haste’ (as a command) ‘be gone!’ but derivation from Middle English (Old French) gobet ‘lump morsel mouthful’ is also formally possible. Compare Walter Gobiforn (‘go before precede’) 1212 in Pleas (Yorks); John and William Gobisid' (‘go beside get free escape’) 1379 in Poll Tax (Tickhill WR Yorks); and Golightly.

Goodey : 1: from the Middle English salutation godne dæie about 1205 godun dai about 1250 god dai after 1300 (OED) ‘(have a God give you a) good day!’. Compare Haggerty (2) and the salutation ‘good morrow’ in Walter Godemorwe (Godemorwen) 1327 in Subsidy Rolls (Essex). Some of the following bearers may alternatively belong with (2) -3 or (4).possibly in some instances from Middle English god(e) day(e) (or dey(e)) ‘good dairy man’ (see Day). 2: from Middle English god(e) ‘good’ + hei(e) ‘enclosed plot field’ (Old English gōd + (ge)hæg) for someone who lived ‘(at the) good enclosure’. Compare Goodacre Goodfield. 3: variant of Goodeve whether from the Middle English female personal name Godive or from the word goodwife goody. 4: from a reduced form of the Middle English female personal name Godith Old English Godgȳð (‘god God’ + ‘battle’). Compare Johanne Godithson 1379 in Poll Tax (Scarisbrick with Hurlston Lancs). It was sometimes confused with Goodeve in (3) as in William Godith(e) Godyth Gwodyf 1317 in Assize Rolls (Kent). Godyf widow of John Clare is also called Goditha Clare de Strode in Assize Rolls (Kent). Examples of Goody and Goodie below may alternatively belong with (1) or (3).

Hearson : 1: from Hearson in Swimbridge (Devon) which is recorded as Heringeston in 1249 and Hereston in 1501. The place-name probably derives from the genitive form of the surname Herring + Middle English ton ‘town village settlement’; Walter Hering held land here in 1249. 2: see Harsant. 3: see Harston.

Kingsman : from Middle English king ‘king’ + the genitival inflection -(e)s- + man(n) ‘man’ denoting one who had commended his services to the king and not to some baron. Compare Walter Kingesbonde 1205 in Pipe Rolls (Northumb) Godwin Kingesreive 1208 in Feet of Fines (Lincs).

Knivett : perhaps as Reaney suggests a variant of Knight but this is far from proven. He attributes it to Norman difficulty in pronouncing the -h- in Old and Middle English cniht. This sound increasingly caused problems for native English speakers and was sometimes altered to [f] as early as the 13th century. This would account for Walter le Knift 1279 in Hundred Rolls (Oxon) but whether this is the source of Cnivet (11th century) and Knivet (13th and 14th centuries) with the intrusive -e- and voicing of [f] to [v] is quite uncertain. There is no evidence for knivet as a variant of knight in MED.perhaps from Middle English knivet knevet a diminutive form of knif ‘knife’ though the name is recorded much earlier than the word (15th-century in MED).

Manclark : variant of Mockler. The development from malclerc to manclark is through dissimilation of l—l—r to n—l—r. Walter dictus Manclerc 1279 in Hundred Rolls (Oxon) may be an early example of this development or may represent a mistranscription of Mau- as Man-.

Marchbanks : Scottish: variant of Marjoribanks a habitational name from Marjoribanks in Dumfriesshire. Marjoribanks was adopted by a branch of the Johnston family tenants of the Bruce lords of Annandale. Following the acquisition of lands in the barony of Ratho (Midlothian) by Thomas Marjoribanks legend developed that the name came from lands granted by Robert Bruce as a marriage portion to his daughter Marjorie (see Margeson) on her marriage in 1316 to Walter High Steward of Scotland ancestor of the royal house of Stewart (Burke).

Morphey : probably a reduced or altered form of Morfield or Murfield; see Merrifield a name found in various spellings in Cornwall Devon Wilts Hants Sussex Surrey and Kent. This is the perhaps the most likely source of the earliest examples in S and SW England but see (ii) for another source which seems to have arisen from the late 17th century onwards leading to possible confusion between names originally with -field and those originally with -foot. Compare the Stepney and the Saint Giles Cripplegate examples cited below with Susan Morefield 1611 Richard Morefield 1647 David Morfoot 1681 in IGI (Stepney Middx) and Thomas Morefield 1673 in IGI (Saint Giles Cripplegate London) although these could be different family names coinciding in the same parishes. With the Suffolk examples of Morphew etc. compare John Morfull 1547 in IGI (Woodbridge Suffolk).variant of Morfett (see Moorfoot). In Sussex and Kent this is illustrated by Dennis Morefoote 1551 Sarah Morfet 1696 Thomas Morfey 1759 in IGI (Wartling Sussex); Thomas Morfoot 1672 Thomas Morfee 1700 Thomas Morfett 1734 Zabulon Morphey 1745 in IGI (Hastings Sussex); Elizabeth Morfett 1745 Jeremiah Morphett 1758 John Morphey 1798 in IGI (Cranbrook Kent); Thos. Morfew 1747 Thomas Morfet 1755 Thomas Morfey 1750 in IGI (Guestling Sussex). A similar pattern of variation occurs in Norfolk: Walter Morefoote 1626 James Murfee 1687 Alexander Morfee 1701 Mary Morfew 1775 in IGI (Great Yarmouth Norfolk). There is early modern evidence for Murph(e)y as a variant of Morphey but 18th-century bearers listed below could alternatively belong with (iv).improbably from Anglo-Norman French morphé Middle English morphé morfe(e) morfeu morpheu murfue ‘morphea any one of a group of skin diseases characterized by discoloration of the skin and scurfy eruptions’. This is a medical term rather than an item of ordinary vocabulary from which a medieval nickname and surname might naturally have derived and the absence of corresponding medieval surname forms adds to the doubtfulness of such an origin. However the word was still current in early modern England and may have played a part in the alteration of the names in (i) and (ii) to Morphey and Morphew through learnéd folk etymology.see Irish Murphy.

Pragnell : possibly an irregular development of the male given name Paganel (see Pannell) avoiding perhaps unwelcome association with pagan. It is first found in Wilts and in the 14th century we also find Walter Pagenhulle 1332 in Subsidy Rolls (Devizes Wilts) and Geoffrey Pangnelle 1332 in Subsidy Rolls (Aldbourne Wilts). There were also Pannells in the same county at the same time: Hugh Paynelle 1332 in Subsidy Rolls (Purton Wilts) and John Panelle 1332 in Subsidy Rolls (Bishopstone by Salisbury Wilts). Compare Prangley.

Riddell : Scottish and northern English: variant of Riddle. A family of the name Riddell has been established in Whitton in Roxburghshire since the mid 12th century when Walter de Riddel from Rydale (North Yorkshire) settled in Scotland after accompanying King David. Another unrelated family of this name have been established in Northumberland since at least the 14th century with William de Ridell having been sheriff of the county in 1314.

Senington : from Sevenhampton (Gloucs) which is recorded as Sevenhamtone in 1086 and Senhampton alias Sennyngton in 1575 and perhaps also from other places with names of the same origin such as Sevenhampton in Highworth (Wilts) which is recorded as Suvenhamtone in 1211 Senhampton in 1330 and Sennington in 1608 Sevington in Leigh Delamere (also Wilts) recorded as Sevenhamton in 1281 Seavington (Somerset) recorded as Seofenempton in about 1025 and Sevenehantune in 1086 and a lost Sevenhampton in Astley (Worcs) recorded as Sevinhampton in 1255. The place-names all mean ‘village of seven homesteads’ deriving from Old English seofon ‘seven’ + hām-tūn ‘home farm enclosure in which a homestead stands’.[... de] Seuehampton 1221 in Place-Names of Gloucs (Gloucs); William de Seveshampton 1327 in Subsidy Rolls (Sevenhampton Gloucs); Johanne de Sevenhampton 1327 in Subsidy Rolls (Astley Worcs); Roberto de Sevenhamton 1327 in Subsidy Rolls (Claines Worcs); John de Sevenhampton 1328 in Feet of Fines (Gloucs); Walter de Seuenhampton' clerk 1361 in Feet of Fines (Hants); Henry Sennington 1772 in Parish Registers (Bicknoller Somerset); Robert Sennington tiler and plasterer 1802 in TNA (Clifton Gloucs); Saml Senington 1804 in IGI (Clifton Gloucs).

Spenceley : probably as suggested in Redmonds Dictionary of Yorks Surnames a variant of Spendley in which the consonant cluster /ndl/ has become pronounced /nsl/. Spendley is itself a variant of Spendlow alias Spendlove. Redmonds provides circumstantial evidence from York Guild Register where Thomas Spensley (1477) can be compared with Walter Spenlowe (1433) and Elizabeth Spendlay (1522). Further evidence appears in IGI data for Oswaldkirk (NR Yorks) where Johanne Spenclay (1547) is possibly identical with John Spenlay (1550) and in IGI data for Bishopwearmouth (Durham): Tho. Spenley (1648) and Richard Spencley (1651). The same developments occurred outside N England. Compare Henry Spendelowe 1309 in Subsidy Rolls (Beds) with William Spendley 1569 Thomas Spenley 1571 and John Spensly 1611 in IGI (Bedford Beds).

Spendley : variant of Spendlow see Spendlove. For the change in pronunciation compare Henry Spendelowe 1309 in Subsidy Rolls (Beds) with William Spendley 1569 William Spenley 1575 in IGI (Bedford Beds). Redmonds Dictionary of Yorks Surnames similarly compares Walter Spendeluf 1415 Walter Spenlowe 1433 in York Guild Register with Elizabeth Spendlay 1522 in York Guild Register; and Robert Spendlove 1301 in Subsidy Rolls (Boltby NR Yorks) with Thomas Spenley 1557 in York Registry Wills (Thornton in Pickering Lythe NR Yorks). The name was once particularly common in Lincs where it mainly occurs as Spindley in 1881.

Tain : 1: variant pronunciation of Thain. Compare Ralph le Theyn 1332 in Subsidy Rolls (Farley Wilts) with John le Teyn 1332 in Subsidy Rolls (Edington Wilts) and John Tane 1639 in IGI (Rowde Wilts). Some of the following bearers may alternatively belong with (3). 2: possibly from Tain (Ross and Cromarty) a transferred river name based on a Celtic or pre-Celtic word denoting ‘water’ from the Indo-European root *ta- ‘flow’. It is more likely however that the surnames listed below are a variant pronunciation of the name in (1) the 1721 example perhaps being influenced by the place-name. Compare Walter Thaine 1684 and Peter Thain 1694 in IGI (Rothiemay Banffs) with George Tain 1752 in IGI (Rothiemay Banffs). 3: from Tain-L'Hermitage (Drôme). 4: perhaps an anglicized pronunciation of Teehan from the personal name Téachán. According to MacLysaght Teahan ‘is almost exclusively a Kerry name’ but ‘as Tehan and Teehan it is found in Cos. Tipperary Leix [i.e. Laois or Queen's County] and Kilkenny’. Compare the 1881 bearer from Queen's County in (3).

Trenaman : synonymous with Middle English atte Trewen denoting someone who lived ‘at the trees’ perhaps with reference to one of the Devon hamlets so named such as Trewyn Train or Traine; see Treen. John Treneman 1525 in Subsidy Rolls (Plympton St Maurice borough Devon) may be a descendant of Walter atte Treawen 1332 in Subsidy Rolls (Plympton Devon). Topographic surnames in -man became increasingly common in late medieval Devon; see Surnames of Devon pp. 26–8.

Umfreville : from Offranville (Seine-Maritime) recorded as Ulfranville in 1087 Unfranville about 1240 Offranville in 1337 and denoting the village or estate (Old French ville) of a man named Ulfram or Ulfran (Continental Germanic Wulframn). William de Unfranvilla witnessed a charter dated before 1164 in which Walter Giffard gave land in Longueville about six miles or so north of Offranville (Documents in France no. 221).

Watmough : from the Middle English personal name Wat a pet form of Walter and Middle English maugh mough ‘kinsman by marriage brother-in-law son-in-law’. See Mowe (1) and compare Robert Waltersmaghe 1305 in Black. In origin it was mainly a Lancs surname that spread eastwards and southwards in post-medieval times. Redmonds Dictionary of Yorks Surnames notes that in 1634 Joshua Watmough of London granted land to a man from Bradford (WR Yorks) and was described as ‘a younger son of Hugh Watmough late of Bury’ (Lancs).

Watten : from the Middle English personal name Wat a pet form of Walter (see Watt) with the characteristically West Midland genitival suffix -en.

Woodham : English (Middlesex and Surrey): habitational name from Woodham (Buckinghamshire) Woodham in Chertsey (Surrey) or Woodham Ferrers Mortimer or Walter (all in Essex). The Surrey and Essex placenames derive from Old English wudu ‘wood’ + hām ‘village homestead’. The Buckinghamshire placename derives from Old English wudu + hamm ‘water meadow’.

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Last name frequency

Geographic distribution of the 258,394 individuals with the name WALTER on Geneanet.

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